Editing Qing dynasty (section)

===Reform, revolution, collapse===
[[File:YuanShikaiPresidente1915.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Yuan Shikai]]]]
[[File:China 1911 en.svg|thumb|Qing territory in 1911]]
The defeat by Japan in 1895 created a sense of crisis which the failure of the 1898 reforms and the disasters of 1900 only exacerbated. Cixi in 1901 moved to mollify the foreign community, called for reform proposals, and initiated the [[Late Qing reforms]]. Over the next few years the reforms included the restructuring of the national education, judicial, and fiscal systems, the most dramatic of which was the abolition of the imperial examination system in 1905.{{sfnp|Reynolds|1993|pp=5–11}} The court directed [[Preparative Constitutionalism|a constitution to be drafted]], and [[1909 Chinese provincial elections|provincial elections]] were held, the first in China's history.{{sfnp|Hsü|1990|pp=412–416}} Sun Yat-sen and revolutionaries debated reform officials and constitutional monarchists such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao over how to transform the Manchu-ruled empire into a modernised Han Chinese state.{{sfnp|Rhoads|2000|p=121 ff}}

[[File:2ndPrinceChun1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Zaifeng, Prince Chun]]]]
The Guangxu Emperor died on 14 November 1908, and Cixi died the following day. [[Puyi]], the oldest son of [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun]], and nephew to the childless Guangxu Emperor, was appointed successor at the age of two, leaving Zaifeng with the regency. Zaifeng forced Yuan Shikai to resign. The Qing dynasty became a [[constitutional monarchy]] on 8 May 1911, when Zaifeng created a "responsible cabinet" led by [[Yikuang]], Prince Qing. However, it became known as the "[[Cabinet of Prince Qing|royal cabinet]]", as five of its thirteen members, were part of or related to the royal family.<ref>Chien-nung Li, Jiannong Li, Ssŭ-yü Têng, "The political history of China, 1840–1928", p. 234</ref>

The [[Wuchang Uprising]] on 10 October 1911 set off a series of uprisings. By November, 14 of the 22 provinces had rejected Qing rule. This led to the creation of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], in [[Nanjing]] on 1 January 1912, with [[Sun Yat-sen]] as its provisional head. Seeing a desperate situation, the Qing court brought Yuan Shikai back to power. His [[Beiyang Army]] crushed the revolutionaries in Wuhan at the [[Battle of Yangxia]]. After taking the position of [[Chancellor (China)|Prime Minister]] he created [[Cabinet of Yuan Shikai|his own cabinet]], with the support of [[Empress Dowager Longyu]]. However, Yuan Shikai decided to cooperate with Sun Yat-sen's revolutionaries to overthrow the Qing dynasty.
[[File:Pitched battle between the imperial and revolutionary army Wellcome L0040013.jpg|thumb|A pitched battle between the imperial and revolutionary armies in 1911]]

On 12 February 1912, Longyu issued the [[Puyi#Abdication|abdication]] of the child emperor Puyi leading to the fall of the Qing dynasty under the pressure of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang army despite objections from [[Royalist Party|conservatives]] and royalist reformers.{{sfnp|Billingsley|1988|pp=56–59}} This brought an end to over 2,000 years imperial governance in China, and began a period of instability. In July 1917, there was an [[Manchu Restoration|abortive attempt]] to restore the Qing led by [[Zhang Xun]]. Puyi was allowed to live in the Forbidden City after his abdication until 1924, when he moved to the [[Foreign concessions in Tianjin#Japanese concession (1898–1945)|Japanese concession in Tianjin]]. The Empire of Japan [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invaded Northeast China]] and founded [[Manchukuo]] there in 1932, with Puyi as its [[Emperor of Manchukuo|emperor]]. After the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invasion of Northeast China]] to fight Japan by the [[Soviet Union]], Manchukuo fell in 1945.